Firm Fire
by BlackPepper3964
Summary: One youkai takes everything a little too far and Kagome isn't happy about it. In my 'Forbearance' universe.


**A/N: Hello, everybody! Set in the 'Forbearance' universe, before Sherlock came back. Came up while I was thinking about some ideas for a third main story. So, you all have that to look forward to, you lucky people, you.**

**BP**

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Kagome burst in through the door and froze at the sight of John standing there, soldier straight and only wearing a t-shirt and jeans, with the demoness she'd been hunting behind him. The female, a snake demon, smiled as she saw Kagome's hesitation.

"Hello, Miko no Shikon. Looking for me?" She asked. "Or are you looking for something… a little more precious?" Kagome smiled sweetly, her eyes subtly changing to silver.

"A little of both, actually." And she took a threatening step forward. The female didn't look worried in the least, wrapping an arm under John's to go round his chest. The free hand rested on his good shoulder gently, but Kagome knew that that could change at any moment.

"Ah, ah, ah." She chided playfully. "We don't want your human pet to get hurt, now do we?" She smiled and her tone hardened. "So I don't want to see you taking another step forward, am I clear?" Kagome was silent for a long time, letting silence reign over the room.

Finally, she ground out, "Fine." through her teeth. The female smiled patronisingly.

"Good girl." Kagome's face seemed set in stone, and she didn't even twitch. "Now," She said, turning her attention to the man in her grip, "Why don't we have a nice little chat about where you found this tasty morsel, hmmm?" Her hand finally made that inevitable move to John's neck, gripping there firmly as her tongue trailed the side of his face. John made a disgusted face.

Kagome managed a tight smile. "I didn't find him. He found me, actually." The female rose an eyebrow. "My human employer thought that I needed to be psychoanalysed because I was 'too used' to crime scenes." She raised her hands in quotation marks. The female laughed incredulously.

"From what I've heard of you over the past three hundred years, I'd be surprised if you _weren't_!" She shook her head. "It just goes to show that the human race is quite stupid, if occasionally good-looking." The female tightened her grip on John's neck, restricting his breathing enough that Kagome noticed the change. "All the more reason why I should kill this one." Kagome made a half-aborted motion forwards, but then hissed in agitation, her eyes shining.

"Don't." The female paused.

"Why?" Kagome racked her brain, half-surprised that she actually stopped.

"Because he has a bigger heart than any other human I've ever met, with the exception of those I travelled with over five hundred years ago." The female hummed thoughtfully.

"I have been wondering why he stayed with you, even after figuring out what you were, the little complication that you have -" Kagome grimaced and the female picked up on it immediately. "Oh? So he _doesn't_ know about your little complication? That's just delicious! And he's in danger all the time, as well. That has to be a turn-off if there ever was one." Kagome held up a hand.

"Actually, if anything, _I'm_ the one who's in danger all the time, and he's in it some of the time, as my scent is usually enough to keep the threats away long enough for me to deal with them." Kagome frowned. "Sometimes I'm just not fast enough." The female looked at John.

"I think I'll kill you in front of her, slowly." She grinned viciously. "Let her learn that involving humans is very dangerous." Kagome growled loudly, the sound echoing through the room.

"If you even begin -"

"You'll do what? You are all the way across the room, all because you didn't want your pretty human to be hurt. How are you going to stop me?" Kagome's hair started to sway and her aura escalated as it became visible in purple waves.

The female took out a dagger and held it against John's throat, pressing hard enough that a cut was made and blood ran across the shiny metal. Kagome's lips curled into a snarl as her reiki glowed out of her eyes.

"You have five seconds." The female smirked and ran a bloody line across John's throat. To his credit, he stood stock still, not flinching even a little bit.

"Four." The female started a line from the middle of John's neck, down to his sternum. Kagome's aura darkened drastically as she watched the blood stain John's t-shirt and run across the dagger.

"Three." The weapon made a diagonal cut down to John's waist on both sides from the middle cut, steadily getting deeper.

"Two." Kagome reached behind her and narrowed her eyes in warning. The dagger was raised, poised to enter John's body, no doubt in a very vital part - Kagome couldn't pinpoint where.

"One." The dagger was brought down by a finely manicured hand before it stopped halfway, dropping. John felt the arms around him loosen and he stepped very quickly away, turning to see what was going on. The female was on her knees, a hair pin embedded in her jugular, her surprised face telling everyone that she didn't know it was coming, despite the warning countdown. He turned with raised eyebrows to Kagome. He hadn't even seen her move and he'd been watching very closely.

Kagome walked forward, eyes hard and glinting. "Don't touch what is mine." She said full of dark glee. She snapped her fingers and the pin disappeared. She smiled coldly. "Because it was made from my reiki, it is my design. The only thing that one does is stall your healing abilities for a full three hours. Just enough time for you to bleed out." Then a barrier rose around the female and Kagome walked away. John followed quickly and waited until they were outside in the hallway to ask any questions.

"What was the barrier for?" Kagome smiled, her eyes back to their usual blue.

"Something new I've been trying out. As soon as there is no life-force in the barrier, it shrinks, purifying anything inside quickly. So, as soon as the bitch in there dies, she is purified." John frowned, disturbed but curious.

"Bleeding out's a bit… merciful for you, isn't it?" Kagome stopped dead and raised an eyebrow.

"Ever watched someone bleed out?" John shook his head. "It's probably the most disturbing way to die, especially if you're trapped. You want to get help, or even save yourself, but your strength drains away until you're just lying there hopeless and knowing that you're going to die, but no way to speed it up. It's a version of torment." Both of John's eyebrows rose, but he didn't ask anymore questions.

"Okay." Kagome looked at him carefully.

"You're still bleeding." Remembering his wounds, he looked down.

"Oh. Well, I was going to throw out this t-shirt anyway." Kagome's hands glowed blue and she lightly ran over the cuts, spending longer on the deeper ones on his waist. By the time she was done, they were all healed. All that was left to show he'd been cut in the first place was the blood on the t-shirt and the cuts on the shirt itself where the dagger had cut through it. "Thanks."

"Chinese?" Kagome asked after he'd taken off the shirt - thank God it was still summer.

"Sure."

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**A/N: Okaaay, that was super weird. Kagome just gets darker and darker every time I do one of these 'rescue'-type one-shots. Am I turning her into a youkai or something? I'm not trying to, I promise, but it's just that she had that darker side to her and that the Shikon, as mentioned in 'Figurative Nonalignment', has slowed down her ageing drastically. And I'm starting to think that John is being ridiculously accepting. But, um, let me know what you think - I'd be very grateful.**

**BP**


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